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Three most important factors in producing a photographic image
What would you say are the three most important factors in producing a photographic image? For me they are composition, composition and composition.
“The contemplation of things as they are, without error or confusion, without substitution or imposture, is in itself a nobler thing than a whole harvest of invention”
Francis Bacon
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Well, if the composition is bad, and the photo isn't somewhat compelling, you're probably right. But you do need good exposure and focus as well because composition won't count if the picture is black.
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I'd say choice of subject is primary to composition, but after choice of subject, it is all composition for me.
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"But is it art or just compositional technical perfection?"
You see, we all have our own biases. Whether we can bring ourselves to admit to them or not.
Ken
"The richness of the experience that occurs when one is exposed tangibly to a subject, material, or process is unmatchable in the abstract... Thus, when 'touch it,' 'taste it,' smell it' become the watchwords, the results are most often extraordinary. Equally extraordinary are the lengths to which people will go to avoid [that] experience."
— Tom Peters and Robert H. Waterman Jr., In Search of Excellence, 1982
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Depends on what you do with the image.
If it is for display on the web: subject, composition, then practical considerations that affect the appearance of the image (focus, exposure, colour, resolution, etc.).
If it is for display in a small print: much the same, with maybe a slight increase in the relative importance of the technical issues.
If it is for display by digital projection: same as for the small print.
If it is for display as an optically projected transparency then the technical requirements are integral to the result, as that mode of display emphasizes faults - it may be that bad technique is enough to outweigh good subjects and composition.
If it is for display as a larger print then the technical requirements are integral to the photographic artifact, so the answer will depend entirely on the intention of the photographer - some will want a print that is like a transparent window to the scene, while others will want something where the qualities of the medium are most important, and themselves a source of beauty and wonder.
Matt
“Photography is a complex and fluid medium, and its many factors are not applied in simple sequence. Rather, the process may be likened to the art of the juggler in keeping many balls in the air at one time!”
Ansel Adams, from the introduction to The Negative - The New Ansel Adams Photography Series / Book 2
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 Originally Posted by MattKing
...some will want a print that is like a transparent window to the scene, while others will want something where the qualities of the medium are most important, and themselves a source of beauty and wonder.
Well said, Matt.
Ken
"The richness of the experience that occurs when one is exposed tangibly to a subject, material, or process is unmatchable in the abstract... Thus, when 'touch it,' 'taste it,' smell it' become the watchwords, the results are most often extraordinary. Equally extraordinary are the lengths to which people will go to avoid [that] experience."
— Tom Peters and Robert H. Waterman Jr., In Search of Excellence, 1982
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the heart and the eye of the beholder (make that two eyes, if you must have three  )
i pass by hundreds of perfectly composed photographs every day without stopping for a split second--don't you?
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There aren't many factors in producing a photographic image. There are lots of them in producing a successful image, though.
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1) A working camera
2) loaded with film
3) and with you.
Without these it does not matter how interesting the subjects is or how good the composition is.
Warning!! Handling a Hasselblad can be harmful to your financial well being!
Nothing beats a great piece of glass!
I leave the digital work for the urologists and proctologists.
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The question is a little akimbo.
All photographs have merit in some way. It is a medium for recording a fragment or period of time and can mean many things to all people.
For the artists amongst us:
• Composition
• Impact
• Technical mastery.
.::Garyh
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Canon EOS1N ('Brutus', 1993—), TS-E 24mm f3.5L, 20mm f2.8, 17-40 f4L, 70-200 f2.8L
Pentax 67 ('Pentaximus', 2010—) + SMCP 45mm f4, 55mm f4 & 165mm f4LS;
Zero Image 6x9 multi-format pinhole (2008—); Sekonic L758D;
Olympus XA, Nikon Coolpix P7700
"If you're not having fun, then you're not doing it right!"
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